1.) Explain what role you think statistics have in our society.

Statistics have big roles in our society.  They can make you into an intelligent consumer of statistical claims because it helps you reflex and analyze the questions you encounter.  Nowadays, we have a lot of data. We need to extract information from this data and draw conclusions from this information. This is where the statistics enter the game, with tools that allow us to extract information and figure out how much we can trust this information  When used correctly, statistics tell us any trends in what happened in the past and can be useful in predicting what may happen in the future too. It can also help us see everyone’s opinion from a different point of view. 

2.) Explain anything new that you have learned about the importance of statistics in our society

Statistics involves making decisions, using statistics, you could plan a production according to what the customer likes and wants, and you can check the quality of the products far more efficiently with statistical methods. You can also use statistics to collect information, analyze data, and test hypotheses.

3.) Describe the different types of problems with statistics

There are a lot of different types of problems with statistics, for example, some statistics can be true but misleading; there was this time when Colgate claimed that 80% of dentists recommend the brand. Consumers were led to believe that 80% of dentists recommended Colgate while the other 20% recommended other brands. But it turns out that when the dentists were surveyed, they could choose several brands, not just one. This is an example of when someone wants to use statistics to make a point, there are many choices of just what numbers to use.  Another problem could be bad sampling. Usually, statistics are obtained by taking a sample from a larger group and assuming the whole group has the same characteristics as the sample… but sometimes this doesn’t work out very well. Let’s say that I go to the mall with my clipboard and ask people who walk by to give their opinions. I’m only going get the opinions of people who shop at that mall, on that particular day; at that particular time; and who take the time to respond. I would only get a bunch of biased data on individuals that likely don’t represent the city at all.